Happy Minfulness Monday. How was your weekend? We hope it was great. Our Mindfulness Monday today is inspired by an Anais Nin quote that we seem to continually come back to, which states, "we don't see things as they are, we see things as we are". Read the words again. Pretty true, right?

In every single situation in our lives from minute to major, we are shaped by our own perception, our own lens, and so we perceive the world as we are, and not necessarily how it objectively is. We attribute judgement and value to items and events based on our ideals. We react to people and places based on our own individual experiences. We internalize situations based on our own thoughts about what others might be thinking.

Take a yoga class for example. Let's say, on this particular day, you are struggling to keep up with the asana. You might be tired, you might be dehydrated, you might be sore etc. So, you choose Child's Pose instead of the rest of the standing series. And as you are catching your breath in Child's Pose you are thinking, "my teacher must think I am lazy. She thinks I don't have the stamina or even the mental strength to keep up with her class. She thinks I should stick to beginner. Ugh this sucks". While your teacher is likely thinking, "take all the time you need. Honour your body and your mind. Find your breath and connect to your practice as it serves you best".

The world can be a tough place, but often our inner dialogue is even tougher than what is out there. It is important to try to clear our minds as much as possible and believe the good and the rational in most situations. By doing so, you will give off a more positive vibe, which will attract the same in others.

It's been said over and over again, but we truly have the ability to shape our worlds. Look for the positive and you will find it. Look for the negative and you will surely find it too. Practice optimism. Practice generosity. Practice kindness. Practice believing in the world as you want it to be, and in time, you will see it as such.

Happy #MindfulnessMonday to you all! We hope you all had wonderful weekends because we sure did! We were at the Yoga Conference in Toronto this weekend and we had a blast. It reminded us how inspiring and energizing it is to be surrounded by like minded people who share your beliefs and passions.

So, today our #MindfulnessMonday is focused on minding our social surroundings. There is an old adage that states that we become like the people we spend the most time with. If we believe this to be true, then we had better choose who we spend our time with very carefully, for our social groups not only define who we are to others, but start to shape who we are to ourselves as well.

Now, this may sound negative, but we choose to look at it super positively. If your goal is to become a surgeon, then you should make sure to spend the majority of your time with surgeons and other aspiring surgeons. If you want to launch a fashion app, then you should attend tech conferences, meet engineers and stylists and successful entrepreneurs who have also launched apps. By surrounding yourself with individuals with a similar focus you will certainly gain knowledge and perspective and they will likely fire your passion in a positive direction. Conversely, if you happen to spend most of your time with "dream stealers" who tell you that being a surgeon takes too many years of school, or launching a fashion app in a totally saturated market is a waste of time, then your passion will likely be dimmed.

This is not to say that you must only hang around with people who share the same goals and dreams as you, however, it is important to be surrounded by people who are supportive and who are positive; people who are dream builders, as opposed to dream crushers.

We hope you have an amazing week and know that whatever you want to accomplish, you can. The road may not be direct, or easy, or without detours, hurdles, puddles, stalls and breakdowns, but if you want it enough and you surround yourself with people who are willing to support you and help you, then you can get there.

Happy #MindfulnessMonday! We hope you all had lovely weekends and if you were celebrating Easter or Passover, we hope you had wonderful holidays! On this #MindfulnessMonday we want to talk about recognizing a dream come true.

From the time we are children, we have dreams for our lives. Some dreams may be more realistic than others and some are likely to change as we grow and evolve and have new experiences. However, there are some that will stick and we will take appropriate steps to make happen. The stars align and YES, a dream has come true. But often, by them time we get there, we maybe forget how much we yearned for this, or we get bogged down in the challenges of getting there and also in realizing it, and we can forget to realize that this is in fact a dream come true.

So today, we want to remind you to take the time to acknowledge your dreams and how they have become reality. They can be the big ones or the small ones, but regardless, it is important to acknowledge them. Can you remember dreaming of your wedding day from the time you were a little girl and now it is finally coming!? Acknowledge that! Don't be overwhelmed by the invitations, the DJ, the photographer, the table settings, the dress fittings etc. Be ecstatic that this a moment that you dreamed about that is actually happening. Take it in. Or, did you dream of climbing The Great Wall of China and you finally did it!? Acknowledge that! Don't worry about the fact that the trip cost you 2 months salary and your flight had been delayed and it was cloudy the day you did it, the fact is you DID IT, dream.come.true.

This is the one time where we might actually tell you not to focus too much on the journey, but notice the result. Do not let the bumps on the road or even the 'look' of the destination when you get there overpower the fact that you are there. You did it. Every step and misstep you took got you here, to the place you dreamed of. So, take it in, recognize it and be proud. Let your achievements empower you to move forward with gratitude and grace.

Hope your week is going well! We wanted to take some time out this hump day to talk a bit about juicing. There is so much info out there, "to juice or not to juice" and it can become confusing. So, we want to give you our take on it and share what we know and what we like about juice!

Whether you are looking to do a purely juice cleanse, or you are just adding a juice to your daily routine, juice is an amazing way to add vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants to your diet, while eliminating toxins. The benefit of doing a 1-3 day cleanse is that it gives your body a great break from the processed or pasteurized foods that we tend to eat a lot of. Given this break, the body becomes energized! Without having to devote so much energy to digesting complex foods, the body can use this fuel in other ways. Along with increased energy levels, other major benefits of juicing include: improved sleep, boosted immune system, weight loss, decreased bloating, skin improvements and a clearer mind.

We enjoy juice as a regular part of our diet, and from time to time we also like to do a 1-3 day cleanse. It is an especially nice re-charge around the change of the seasons. A personal fave is Total Cleanse. We love their juices and we also love that you can customize their cleanses to your own choices (so if you hate beet juice, that's okay, you do not need to have it!) You can check them out here: http://www.totalcleanse.ca/ and even use my discount code 'mindfulness' to receive 15% off your purchase.